Brazilian President Lula recovers after brain surgery

Inside this Sao Paulo hospital, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was recovering after emergency surgery to drain a bleed on his brain linked to a fall in October.

After complaining of a worsening headache during talks with congressional leaders, Lula was taken to a hospital… where an MRI scan detected an intracranial hemorrhage. According to doctors, Lula was quickly flown to Sao Paulo for the surgery.

The 79-year-old was said to be in stable condition after a successful operation.

Here’s Lula’s physician, Roberto Kalil: “Here, in this unit, he underwent surgery to drain the hematoma and cleanse the brain. The president progressed well. He arrived at the surgery practically awake, was intubated, is now stable, talking normally, eating and will remain under observation for the next few days.”

He said Lula would return to Brazil’s capital early next week if everything goes well.

Doctors ruled out any injury to the brain or neurological complications.

But, the emergency surgery added to health concerns about the aging leftist president, who is halfway through his third non-consecutive term.

Weak results for his Workers Party in this year's municipal elections underscored the lack of a clear leftist successor if he chooses not to run for reelection in 2026.

Lula has curtailed travel in recent months while doctors monitored his recovery from trauma to the back of his head when he fell at his home in late October, requiring stitches.

Following the president’s fall, doctors advised Lula to stop traveling by plane, so he canceled trips to Russia and Azerbaijan for conferences in October and November.

In the weeks since the fall, Lula has shown no obvious signs of impairment. Last month, he hosted the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, welcoming world leaders, including President Biden, and holding bilateral talks with allies.  

Lula is expected to recover in the hospital in the coming days and return to Brasília as soon as next week.